Power take-off device for automobile trucks and tractors



June 28, 1938. J. M. woon 2,121,397

'POWER TAKEOFF DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILE TRUCKS AND 'RC'I'RS` Filed May 11,1936 2 Shee'ts-Slheet l Q O u *n Q j r S Q a LQ I Y June 28,1938.

J. M. wooD POWER TAKE-OFF DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILE TRUCKS AND TRACTORSFiled May 1l, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f Patented June 28, i938 PATENTOFFICE POWER TAKE-OFF DEVICE FOR AUTOMO- BILE TRUCKS AND TRACTORS JessM. Wood, Windom, Minn.

Application May 11, 1936, Serial No. 79,109

3 Claims.

My invention relates to a power take-oil device of that type designed tobe used in conjunction with an automobile truck or the like wherebypower provided for operating the truck is also utilized for operatingthe power take-oil device. This provides means whereby corn shellers,feed grinders, cement mixers or other devicesmay be carried by the truckframe and have their power derived from said take-Gif device.

I realize that a number of powertake-oif devices have been constructedand patented for this purpose but, so far as I am aware, most of thesedevices are complicated, expensive and dimcult to mount, and whenmounted are not very efcient l in their operation. Most of these deviceshave their power take-oil shafts extending outwardly from the clutchcase and provided with a gear, or belt pulley carried by the outer endof the shaft for power purposes, so that lateral strains are imparted tothe shaft, due to the tension of the belt or to the action of the drivergear against the driven gears when gears are utilized, the said powershaft being insufiiciently supported to provide a rigid structure toinsure against binding and twisting strains in the shaft bearing.

It is also desirable to include in the power takeoif mechanism meanswhereby either a belt wheel or gear mechanism may be easily and quicklyconnected to the power take-off shaft so that the power take-offmechanism may be very easily and quickly adapted to operate variouskinds of machinery. Therefore, the object of my invention is to providea power take oi unit of the type above described, of simple, durable andinexpensive construction, which may be easily and quickly placed inoperative position on an automobile truck, and to provide means wherebyeither a belt wheel or gear driven power shaft may be easily and quicklyconnected to the main power take- 0 `oif device without altering theconstruction,

More specifically, itis the object of my invention to provide in a powertake off device of the type above described, a main clutch case whichmay be rigidly connected to the frame of the truck, and in connectiontherewith a detachable element, or elements, at one end of the clutchcase whereby either a belt wheel or power shaft gear mechanism may beeasily and quickly attached thereto. f a

A further object is to provide in a power takeoff device of the typeabove described, improved clutch mechanism.

A further object is to provide in a power takeoff mechanism improvedmeans `for supporting the power take-off shaft wherein each end of theshaft is supported by a suitable bearing with the power take-off devicesecured to the shaft at a point between the bearings.

My invention consists in the construction,A arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a truck, a portion of which is inlongitudinal vertical section to show the manner in which my improvedtake-ofi' device is attached thereto.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the power unit.

Figure 3 is a detail transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 ofFigure 2. f

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a modified form of my device.

In the drawings I have used the reference numeral Ill to indicate theframe of an automobile truck, and I I the drive shaft for operating therear wheels I 2. The numeral I3 indicates what I shall term the enginedriven shaft which, as a matter of fact, is the power shaft of thetransmission gear operated from the engine shaft, of vordinaryconstruction. 'Ihe numeral I4 indicates any mechanism carried by theautomobile frame, such as a corn Sheller, having a power shaft I5 foroperating mechanism carried by the control Il.

My improved power take-off device comprises a clutch case I6 having bothends open and provided with a flange I 1 at its rear end and a flange I8at its front end. The case I6 is provided with bracket members I9 bymeans of which the case may be secured to the frame members Il), saidcase being mounted behind the transmission gear case of the automobilein alinement with the shaft I3. The rear end of the case I6 is providedwith what I shall term a bearing housing. 20, having a flange 2| adaptedto engage the ange I1, said anges being secured together by means ofbolts 22. Rotatably mounted in the housing is a driven shaft 23, havingits rear `end adapted to be connected to the shaft II by means of asuitable universal joint 24 of ordinary construction. The shaft 23 ismounted in ball bearings 25 and 26, the inner end of the shaft 23 beingprovided with a clutch lmember 21 having an annular iiange 28 on itsforward end, said flange carrying internal teeth 29. 'I'he forward endof the shaft 23 has a recess 30 for supporting aroller bearing 3|.

. The'front end of the case I6 is provided with \a plate 32 bolted tothe iiange 'I8 by bolts 33, said plate having an inwardly extendingflange 34 adapted to fitthe inner surface of the case I6 and alsosupport the ball bearing 35. The plate 32 is provided with a bracket 38terminating in a plate 31. Secured to the front face of the plate 31 isa bearing housing 38, by means of suitable bolts 39, the housing 38being designed to carry a ball bearing 40.

Rotatably mounted in the ball bearings 35 and 46 is a power take-offsleeve 4| having its inner end provided with an internal clutch member42 similar to the clutch member 28, the forward end of the sleeve 4Ibeing provided with a screwthreaded nut 43 to support the sleeve againstrearward movement. Y

Rotatably mounted in the sleeve 4I is a drive shaft 44 having its rearend provided with a Acontracted portion 45 adapted to operate in theroller or ball bearing 3|, while its forward end 44 is provided with acontracted portion 41 extending through a bearing 48, a combined loadand .thrust bearing carried by the housing 38, and

thrust opening 49 in said housing, the forward end of the shaft 44having a portion 50 adapted to be connected to the shaft I3 by means ofa suitable coupling device 5I.

Slidably mounted onvthe shaft 44 is a pair of clutch members 52 and 53,each having external teeth adapted to co-operate with the internal shaftof the adjoining clutch members 28 and 42, said clutch members 52 and 53being splined to the shaft 44 by means of suitable flutes 54 provided inthe shaft 44. V

The case I6 is provided with an opening 55 and also with a case 56covering said opening, the case 56 slidingly supporting rods 51 and 58,the rod 51 having a yoke 59 designed to enter a slot 66 in the clutchmember 52, whereby said clutch' member may be moved into and out ofoperation withthe clutch member 29 by simply moving the rod 51rearwardly or forwardly. The rod 58 is also provided with a clutchoperating yoke designed to operate in a groove 52 in the clutch member53. By this arrangement it will be seen the clutch member 52 may bemoved into operative relation with the clutch member 29, causing theshafts 44 and 23 to operate in unison, while the clutch member 53 may bemoved into engagement with the clutch member 42 to operatively connectthe power take-off sleeve 4| with the shaft 44, thus providing meanswhereby the auto truck may be advanced over the ground surface, and atthe same time the power take-olf sleeve 4| may be operated. By leavingthe clutch member 53 in its open normal position the truck may beadvanced without operating the power sleeve, or the clutch member 53 maybe moved into engagement with the clutch member 42, causing the powersleeve to be operated without advancing the truck. The rods 51 and 58may be operated by any suitable rock shaft mechanism 62 connected with asuitable lever 63 mounted within the cab of the truck or any othersuitable position. Power may be taken from the sleeve 4| either by thebelt wheel 84, as illustrated in Figure 2, or by means of gear mechanismas illustrated in Figure 4, the said belt wheel 64 being operativelyconnected with the shaft I5 by means of a belt 65. Y

When it is desired to employ gear mechanism such as illustrated in Fig.4, the plate 32 and the bracket 36- are detached from the casing I6, thesaid plate 32 being detached by simply moving the bolts 33, after whichthe entire assembly may be removed from said casing and from the shaft44 simply by sliding the sleeve 4I outwardly and longitudinally of saidshaft. The assembly illustrated in Figure 4 may then be substituted,said assembly comprising a gear case 66 having a plate 81 similar to theplate 32 and secured to the flange I8 by means of the bolts 33.

The bearing housing 38 may be r'emoved from the plate 31 and applied tothe outer end of the gear casing 86. The sleeve 4I may also be appliedto the gear casing, as clearly illustrated in Figure 4, the gear case 66having one end open, said open end being provided with a plate 68secured in position by means of bolts 69, said plate supporting'a shaftbearing 10 in which is rotatably mounted a shaft 1I. The inner end ofthe shaft 1I is provided with a beveled gear 12 designed to mesh with abeveled gear-13, keyed to the .sleeve 4|, thus providing means wherebythe gear driven shaft 1I may be operated at right angles to the shaft 44and thus provide means whereby the power take-off may be adapted tooperate various types of mechanism'without disturbing or dismounting theclutch case I6.

It will readily be seen that other types of gear driven power shafts maybe substituted for the one illustrated in Figure 4 without involving anyact of invention other than mechanical skill.l

One of the advantages of my construction lies in the fact that the powersleeve 4I is mounted at each end in suitable bearings 35 and 46, thebearing 35 being carried by the clutch case I6, while the bearing 40 iscarried by a suitable housing supported by the bracket 36, which in turnis fixed to the clutch case, so that both ends of the sleeve 4I arerigidly supported against lateral movement, as well as longitudinalmovement, without imparting any lateral strain to-the drive shaft 44,the rear end of said drive shaft being mounted in the bearing 3| carriedby the forward end of the driven shaft 23 and in axial alinementtherewith, thus providing means whereby` the power -sleeve and the driveshaft, as well as the clutch elements, are Amounted in alinement wherebythe clutch elements may be easily moved into and out of operativeposition and whereby the coacting gears are held in proper alinement toeliminate wear and loss in power as they are operated.

Furthermore. the device provides a unitary construction all the parts ofwhich may be mounted and alined in the shop before being placed in theautomobile frame, thereby eliminating any necessity of alining thebearing 40 with the bearings 26 and 35 at the time the clutch case andgear mechanism is being mounted in the auto frame.

I claim as my invention:

1. A clutch case, a bearing housing detachably secured to one end ofsaid clutch case having inner and outer bearings, a driven shaftrotatably mounted in said bearings having its inner end provided with aninwardly extending clutch element and an axial bearing, a bracketdetachably secured to the other end of said clutch casing, a bearingsupported in the inner end of said bracket, a bearing housing detachablysecured to the outer end of said bracket, a bearing in the secondbearing housing, a sleeve extending through said bracket and rotatablymounted in the bearings carried thereby and in axial alinement with thefirst shaft, said sleeve having a clutch element on its inner end, ashaft mounted through said sleeve having its inner end rotatably mountedin the bearing on the first shaft, a

ings.

2.fA clutch casing, a bearing housingdetachably secured to one end ofsaid clutch casing, a driven shaft rotatably mounted in said housinghaving its inner end provided with an inwardly extending clutch elementand an axial bearing, a bracket detachably secured to the other end ofsaid clutch casing, a bearing supported at each end of said bracket andspaced apart, a sleeve rotatably mounted in said bearings yhaving aclutch element on its inner end, a second bearing carried by the outerend of 'said bracket and in axial alinement with the driven shaft, ashaft supported in said sleeve having its inner end `iournaled in' theinner end of the driven shaft and its outer end in said second bearing,.a power take-off device carried by said sleeve and between itssupporting bearings, and a clutch element splined to said shaft andbetween the nrst clutch elements and adapted to cooperate therewithwhereby either one ofthe first clutch elements may be operativelyconnected' with said second shaft.

3. A clutch casing, a detachable housing closv end of the driven shaft,a bearing carried by said bracket supporting the opposite end of saiddrive shaft, and clutching devices for operatively connecting said driveshaft with either the driven shaft or said sleeve.

JESS M. WOOD.

